Monday, October 16, 2017

In a stunning discovery, archaeologists in Jerusalem have uncovered a new section of the Western Wall that has been hidden for 1,700 years.

Recent excavations at the holy site, which were announced Monday, revealed eight stone courses, or horizontal layers of stones, buried under 26 feet of earth. The completely preserved stone courses are constructed from massive stones and were discovered in Jerusalem’s Western Wall tunnels.

The Western Wall is part of an ancient retaining wall supporting the Temple Mount where the First and Second Temples once stood.

When experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority removed the soil, they were stunned to discover the remains of a theater-like structure that dates to the Roman period. The theater corresponds to historical records that describe a theater near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

The finds were made beneath Wilson’s Arch, a structure at the Northern end of the Western Wall plaza that was once part of a huge bridge leading to the Temple Mount.